THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN TOBACCO SMOKING AND STRESS, ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AT KING SAUD BIN ABDULAZIZ UNIVERSITY FOR HEALTH SCIENCES, JEDDAH

Contemporary literature suggests that medical school is known as being stressful and may significantly affect students' psychological well-being[10. Additionally relieving stress is one of the main reasons for smoking among college students12. This cross sectional study is aiming to assess the association between tobacco smoking and stress, anxiety, and depression among all medical students of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences Jeddah, 307 responded. Data was collected through : Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 quisionnare. Our study demonstrated high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Also Female students were more stressed in comparison to male students with a P-value of 0.003. Besides, Female students were more depressed than male students with a P-value of 0.035. Cigarette smoking was found to be associated with a reduced level of depression with a P-value of 0.03. In Conclusion, We recommend workshops to develop better coping skills, as well as counseling about smoke cessation.